Buoy tender crews face severe safety issues when removing split keys from a buoy shackle. A buoy is weighed down to the floor of the body of water by a chain attached to a concrete block. The chain connects the buoy by a shackle, held shut by a pin and split key, as shown in the exemplary pictorial illustration 100 of FIG. 1. The split key is butterflied, thus preventing the pin from slipping out of the shackle. A buoy cannot be worked until it is separated from the chain. Separation occurs after entirely removing the split key from the shackle. When in the water, the split key often becomes mangled, resulting in a difficult and dangerous removal process. Prior proposed solutions are problematic as grave safety issues arise during buoy split key removal using brute force and a hammer alone. Numerous people are often injured using the current method which consisted of using a pair of 8 lbs hammers.
When removing the split key from the shackle, three possible scenarios may occur. In the first scenario, the split key is in good condition, i.e., the split key is in its original installation condition. Because split keys are typically butterflied to approximately 90 degrees, a crew member utilizes two sledge hammers to apply the necessary force to bring the split key back into its original position to be removed. In the second scenario, the split key is foul, bent, and/or twisted to odd angles of distortion which make it difficult to remove using the hammer method described in the first scenario. When the split key is bent between 90 to 140 degrees with a slight twist, removal of the split key problematically requires working with a chisel or a wedge prior to removal with a sledge hammer. Finally in the third scenario, the split key is completely mangled being bent past 140 degrees and has a large amount of twist in it. There is no easy or safe way to get the split key off with any kind of hand held tools. The only way to remove the split key is to use a blow torch with high heat intensity to cut the split key off. The second and third scenarios describe time consuming, inefficient, and unworkable proposed solutions to removing a bent split key.
Current tools used to remove split keys include a split key punch, a blacksmith's punch hammer, and a blacksmith's chisel hammer. The split key punch are typically machined from a Blacksmith's Chisel, a hammer that is flat on one side but beveled on the other. This punch is machined to produce a rectangle on the beveled side that is 2⅛″ high, ⅜″ thick and 1⅜″ wide. This punch is used to knock 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class split keys out of the shackle pins. The blacksmith's punch hammer is square on one end and has a round flat tip on the other. It is used to drive the pin out of a shackle after the key has been removed. This is also called a pin drift hammer. The blacksmith's chisel hammer, also known as a split key hammer, is flat on one end and beveled on the other. This hammer is used to spread the key, a large flat cotter pin, which holds a shackle pin in the shackle. It provides the best means of putting the required 45 degree separation in the split key. It is easiest to turn the shackle on deck, placing the blacksmith chisel into the key opening and hitting it with a blacksmith's hammer.
Therefore, a need exists for a buoy split key removal device (“BSD”) that removes buoy split keys in an efficient and workable manner when the prongs are deformed from its original condition or spread.